How to Teach Abstract Art: 3 Fun Art Lessons You Can Use in Your Middle or High School Art Classroom to Build Compositional Skills

A banner image featuring the phrase ‘How to Teach Abstract Art’ in bold, white font centered on a bright background with abstract designs. On the left, a hand holds up a canvas with yellow and red abstract patterns. In the middle, another canvas displays black and white abstract shapes. On the right, a hand is seen painting geometric abstract forms in red and beige.

Are you looking for how to teach abstract art in a way that captivates your students while building their compositional skills? You’ve come to the right place! Teaching abstract art can seem daunting, but it’s a fantastic way to explore art composition without the pressure of creating realistic images. By focusing on repetition, variation, and balance, students can learn essential principles of design while expressing their creativity through abstract projects.

In this blog post, I’ll walk you through 3 simple abstract art lessons perfect for middle and high school students. These projects are designed to be easy to implement, fun for students, and packed with opportunities to explore the key elements of art.

Whether you’re an experienced art teacher or new to teaching abstract art, this guide will help you get started with engaging lessons that will boost your students’ understanding of composition, color, and balance.

Frequently Asked Questions About Teaching Abstract Art

If you’ve ever asked yourself any of these questions, this guide has the answers you need:

How do I teach abstract art to middle or high school students?
What are some engaging abstract art lesson plans for the classroom?
How can I introduce abstract art while teaching the principles of composition?
What’s the best way to explain abstract art to my students?
How can I make abstract art fun and educational at the same time?

This blog post will answer these questions and more. Plus, it will provide you with step-by-step abstract art lessons designed to help students develop their compositional skills using repetition, variation, and balance.

How to Teach Abstract Art in 3 Steps

Lesson 1: Neurographic Art Lesson – Focus on Repetition and Variation

“bstract Designs with Neurographic Art” banner featuring a vibrant blue background with whimsical illustrations of an art palette, scissors, and stars. Below the banner are five panels showcasing colorful abstract neurographic art pieces, each with unique patterns and shapes that intertwine and overlap in a visually stimulating manner. This image could be used to illustrate the concept of ‘how to teach abstract art’ by demonstrating the neurographic technique as an example of abstract artistic expression.

The first abstract art lesson we’ll explore is neurographic art. This technique involves drawing organic, free-flowing lines that intersect and connect. Neurographic art is not only meditative and relaxing for students but also a powerful way to teach repetition and variation in abstract compositions.

Neurographic art is an ideal way to introduce students to abstract concepts because it’s approachable, allows for individual creativity, and encourages them to experiment with repetition and pattern-making. This lesson teaches the foundations of art composition without overwhelming students with rules or techniques, making it a great starting point for anyone learning how to teach abstract art.

Graphic illustration on how to teach abstract art, focusing on ‘Repetition and Variation.’ The left side features a black and white abstract design titled ‘Repetition & Variation’ with an example showing various shapes repeating in size and form but with varied line thickness. The right side explains ‘Repetition’ with four identical green circles, and ‘Variation’ with three blue rectangles of different sizes, describing how repetition uses the same element multiple times to connect design elements, while variation changes size, color, form, or orientation to create unity and add interest.

What You’ll Teach:

Balance: By repeating certain shapes and altering them slightly, students will explore how balance can be achieved even in abstract, freeform designs.
Repetition and Variation: Students will create repeated shapes or patterns from their lines and learn how subtle variations in size, spacing, and angle can create rhythm and movement in the artwork.

CHECK IT OUT: Abstract Neurographic Art Lesson

A vibrant example of abstract art showcasing a variety of patterns and colors, including stripes, dots, and contrasting shapes, which could be used as a visual aid in lessons on how to teach abstract art.

Project Overview: This lesson is designed to introduce students to neurographic art by using organic lines and shapes. Students will explore how balance can be achieved through the repetition and variation of shapes and lines, teaching them the fundamentals of abstract art composition.
Materials: 9 x 12 drawing paper, Pencil, Ruler, Reference Images for inspiration, Sharpie markers (thick and fine points) and Light colored markers (3-4 warm colors, 2-4 cool colors)
Goal: To create a design using repeated organic lines, introducing variation in size and position to explore balance.
Reflection: Encourage students to reflect on how the repetition of similar shapes or lines helps create balance in their composition. Ask them how the slight changes (variations) in their patterns impacted the final artwork and how it made them feel.

Classroom Tip: Have students draw freeform, organic lines that crisscross the page, creating enclosed shapes. Ask them to identify shapes within the lines and repeat them, varying the size or orientation. Encourage students to think about how these slight changes in repetition affect the overall balance of their artwork.

Lesson 2: Abstract Acrylic Painting Lesson – Focus on Color and Balance

The second lesson is all about color theory and how to balance colors in abstract compositions. Using acrylic paint, students will experiment with repetition of shapes or forms while introducing color variation to create contrast and balance.

An educational graphic explaining key concepts on how to teach abstract art, focusing on ‘Color and Balance.’ The left side features a palette of vibrant colors with circles showcasing different hues, values, and intensities, labeled ‘Color.’ The right side illustrates the principle of ‘Balance’ with three types of balance in art: symmetrical, asymmetrical, and radial. Each type is exemplified with an image: a butterfly for symmetry, an abstract composition for asymmetry, and a pizza for radial symmetry. Text boxes provide definitions and insights into how these elements contribute to the stability and harmony of artwork. The background is teal with decorative elements like dashed lines and paint splatters adding to the creative theme.

What You’ll Teach:

Color and Value: Students will explore how to use repeating colors in different values (light and dark tones) to create depth and contrast in their work. This will help them understand how color impacts the overall feel of a piece.
Balance: By carefully placing light and dark colors, students will practice how to create balance and harmony in their abstract paintings.

CHECK IT OUT: Abstract Art Acrylic Painting

A tutorial on how to teach abstract art featuring a close-up of a hand holding a small canvas with geometric shapes in shades of red, green, and black, next to a larger canvas with the same design and color scheme.

Project Overview: This lesson uses acrylic paints to explore abstract shapes and color. Students will focus on repeating geometric shapes and using color variation to balance the composition. They will learn how to mix and layer paints to experiment with value (light and dark shades) and how this impacts the visual balance of their work.
Materials: Acrylic paint, brushes of various sizes, canvas or heavy paper, palettes for mixing paint, water containers for cleaning brushes.
Goal: Create a design using repeated shapes and explore how the repetition of shapes, paired with variations in color and value, can build balance and visual interest.
Reflection: Ask students to reflect on how using different colors and varying the size or placement of shapes influenced the final composition. How did their choices create or disrupt balance? What emotions or moods were conveyed through their color palette?

Classroom Tip: Ask students to imagine how different arrangements of shapes and colors can evoke different feelings. For example, repeated circular shapes painted with cool colors may create a calm mood, while warm colors can introduce energy or tension. Challenge students to vary their color choices to see how it changes the overall balance of the composition.

Lesson 3: Neurographic Art and Composition Project – Focus on Balance, Color, and Mood

Educational poster titled ‘Composition in ART’ featuring abstract art elements and a person with their face obscured standing in front of an abstract background. The poster includes text such as ‘Fun Project,’ ‘How to Create Good Design,’ and ‘Inside Out ART Teacher,’ highlighting methods on how to teach abstract art effectively.

The final lesson builds on neurographic art but with a focus on how color affects mood and balance in an abstract composition. Students will use the same freeform line technique but will explore how color choices can evoke different emotions and feelings within their work.

Color psychology that could help on how to teach abstract art

What You’ll Teach:

Balance and Composition: By thinking about how they place color within their design, students will gain a deeper understanding of how to create balanced compositions in abstract art.
Mood through Color: Students will learn how different color palettes can set the tone of a piece—bright colors for excitement, cool tones for calmness, or dark shades for mystery. They’ll experiment with how these colors influence the overall mood of their artwork.

CHECK IT OUT: Abstract Neurographic Composition

A hand holding a canvas with an abstract art painting featuring vibrant yellow and orange hues with bold red outlines, demonstrating how to teach abstract art through visual example

Project Overview: In this lesson, students will revisit neurographic art but with a deeper focus on how color impacts mood. They will experiment with the placement of shapes and colors to achieve a sense of balance while exploring how specific colors can influence the emotional tone of the artwork.
Materials: Drawing paper or canvas, pencils, black markers, colored pencils or watercolor paints, mood color chart (optional but helpful).
Goal: Create an abstract composition using neurographic art techniques, with a focus on balancing shapes and colors to express mood.
Reflection: Have students reflect on their choice of colors and how these colors affected the overall balance and mood of their artwork. Ask how they balanced different hues across the composition and whether they noticed any connections between specific colors and emotions.

Classroom Tip: Introduce a color mood chart to help students understand how colors can evoke different emotions. Encourage them to think critically about their color choices when filling in their abstract designs, and ask how the combination of shapes and color helps balance the composition and express different feelings.

Why Teaching Abstract Art is Important

When you teach abstract art to middle school or high school students, it isn’t just about creating random patterns and shapes—it’s about helping students develop a strong sense of composition. By focusing on the key principles of repetition, variation, and balance, students will gain a better understanding of how to create visually pleasing and balanced artwork.

Abstract art gives students the freedom to explore these concepts without worrying about making something “realistic.” It removes the pressure of perfection and allows them to focus on compositional skills and the elements of art in a playful and engaging way.

Whether you’re teaching younger students or working with older ones, abstract art lessons are a fantastic way to help students develop their artistic skills. These projects are designed to be adaptable to different grade levels and abilities, making them perfect for both beginners and more advanced students.

Conclusion

Teaching abstract art is a fantastic way to introduce students to the elements of art in a fun and engaging way. By focusing on repetition and variation, using color for balance, and adding depth through layering, students will gain a deeper understanding of key art principles. Whether you’re working with younger students or older ones, these abstract art lesson plans will help you create exciting and educational projects that your students will love.

Ready to try these lessons in your classroom? These step-by-step abstract art lessons will get your students excited about exploring abstract design while learning essential art skills!